Koomesh
Year:2017 | Volume:19 | Issue:1 (65)|Papers Count:37

Introduction: Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is one of the most common and fatal type of cancers and it is responsible for about half of mortalities from cancer (44.4%) in Iran. The purpose of the study was to evaluate scientific output of Iran in the matter of gastrointestinal cancer in selected international databases (Scopus, Medline). Regarding the considerable prevalence of GI cancers in Iran and the world and its impact on patients and society the necessity toward scientific investigations seems to be highlighted.Materials and Methods: A cross - sectional descriptive survey was conducted using Scientometrics criteria. Data were collected from two Medline and Scopus databases as search ground. To extract data from the advanced search link in Scopus database, the researcher made searching strategy designed to include all of “GI cancer-related” keywords was used. Keywords included 17 terms combined with 9 keywords about malignancy, tumor and cancer. Ultimately, we formed 153 different keywords. The search strategy in Medline database was designed based on Medical Subject headings (MeSH) via a subject specialist (medical specialist) help.Results: analyzed data showed that 1826 documents in terms of GI cancer written by Iranian researchers were indexed in Scopus and 468 in Medline databases. Regarding the subject matter, Iran’s ranking was 30 in the Scopus, 31 in Medline, 10 within Asian countries, and 3 in Middle-east. Tehran University of Medical Sciences with production of 35.17 percent of documents in Scopus database and 27.35 percent of documents in the Medline database was identified as most active centers in this field .In both of these databases, “Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention” includes most Iranian documents in this field.Conclusion: The study suggested a linear increase of scientific production in the field of GI cancers during the studied period in both databases. However, there is still a significant gap between Iran's scientific output indexed in the field and the growing number of GI cancers in the community. Therefore, the policymakers should pay more attention to improving the research activities in the field of GI.

Pain is an unpleasant experience that results from physical and psychological responses to injury. Since, the main goal of treatment is to control pain, finding safe, easy, and inexpensive methods for pain control is still a necessity. Aromatherapy has long been used to relieve pain and treatment of various diseases. Lavender is one of the most famous plants in aromatherapy that has importance and particular value in relieving pain and treatment of different diseases and has many applications in clinical practice. The use of Lavender as an alternative method of treatment decreases the need to chemical drugs in some of the physical and psychological problems. A review of literature on the analgesic effects of Lavender showed different effects and results. So, the need to further studies is tangible. Due to the necessity, this review study was done with aim to evaluate pain control with essential oil of Lavender. We reviewed articles indexed in the Medline, Pubmed, Scopus, Google scholar databases, between 2004 and 2015. The search was conducted by using key words: pain, pain control, aromatherapy and Lavender and relevant articles were extracted. Finally, 36 articles were studied. The results showed that the effects of Lavender in the management of acute and chronic pain, cancer pain and etc. mainly depend on the nature of pain and the method of administration. But in the most cases, Lavender has analgesic effects. Based on these findings, it is recommended further studies to prove it in various clinical situations and to determine the amount of required lavender.

Introduction: Faculty members of medical universities have major role in conducting researches and knowledge production. The consideration of the viepoints of faculty members about factors affecting researche perormace can increase both the quantity and quality of scientific articles and borders of knowledge extension. This study aimed to explore the effective factors in research from the viewpoints of faculty members of Semnan University of Medical Sciences.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted with qualitative approach in 2016. Sampling was purposeful with maximum variation. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews by 11 participants of faculty members in Semnan University of Medical Sciences (6 basic sciences and 5 clinical doctors). Data were analyzed by conventional content analysis method simultaneously data collection based on five steps of Granheim and Lundman (2004). Trustworthiness was achieved through Lincoln and Guba criteria.Results: A total of six main themes including: “motivation”, “personality characteristic”, “support”, “appropriate infrastructure”, “interaction and team work” and “organizational (management) factors” were emerged from data analysis.Conclusion: Findings of study explained affecting factors on research from the viewpoint of faculty members. The results of present study showed new factors that should be considered appropriately to promote quality and quantity of researches.

Introduction: Excessive generation of free radicals, especially reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a general role in the acceleration of aging process. Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence indicats that elderly men who are physically active are benefited from exercise-induced adaptation in cellular antioxidant defensive systems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to study the effect of concurrent training on malondyaldeyde (MDA) and carbonyl protein (PC) concentrations in elderly men.Materials and Methods: Twenty four inactive elderly men voluntarily participated in this research and were assigned in one of the training or control groups. Participants in training group performed three days per week of concurrent training for fourteen weeks. At baseline and after 14 weeks, blood samples were obtained for MDA and PC concentration measurements.Results: After 14 weeks of concurrent training, we observed a significant decrease in MDA in the training group compared with control group (p<0.05). Nevertheless, despite of abundant decrease in PC in training group after exercises, this change was not significant statistically (P=0.068).Conclusion: Hence, according to the results of this study it seems that concurrent exercise training is a suitable training method and an effective therapeutic device in modulation of oxidative stress in aged men.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes is a multifactorial disease, but recently it has been found that increased expression of MTNR1B gene is associated with of the risk of type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 12 weeks of resistance training on MTNR1B gene expression in the pancreas and glucose and insulin levels in male Wistar rats with type 2 diabetes.Materials and Methods: This study was a fundamental and experimental approach. In this study 30 male Wistar rats weighing 220±20 g, were used. Rats were kept under the standard conditions of temperature of 22±2oC and humidity of 45% and consecutive 12-hour periods of light and darkness. Rats were divided into three groups: Control group, diabetic group, and diabetic plus resistant training group. Diabetes was induced by disolving nicotinamide and STZ in the drinking water. Resistance training was conducted for 12 weeks, 5 days a week in a 3 course with 6 repetitions. All rats were sacrificed 48 hours after the last training session.Results: A significant reduction in fasting glucose levels was observed in the diabetic resistant training group than the diabetic group (P<0.05). Unlike glucose, 12 weeks of exercise training significantly increased serum insulin levels in the diabetic group than before training (P<0.05). On the other hand, MTNR1B gene expression was decreased in diabetic resistance training group than the diabetic group by 93percent (P<0.05).Conclusion: The results showed that twelve weeks of resistance exercise significantly increased serum insulin, a significant reduction in blood glucose and a significant reduction in the MTNR1B gene expression in the pancreatic than diabetic group.

Introduction: In diabetic patients, levels of inflammatory factors such as hs-CRP are high and reduction of these factors may lead to the reduction of mortality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether the eight-week aerobic exercise with nettle supplementation would influence on hs-CRP levels in inactive middle-aged women with type II diabetes.Materials and Methods: 42 inactive middle-aged women with diabetes with an average age of 57.1±06.66 years were randomly divided into four groups: control, placebo, aerobic exercise with placebo, and exercise with nettle supplement (NS). Eight-week increasing aerobic exercise program consisted of 3 sessions per week of running on a treadmill for 30-55 minutes with intensity of 45-65% heart rate reserve. The first week started with low intensity and reached to maximum intensity in the last week. Dose of NS and placebo was 6 cc divided in 3 times and consumed following meals. Blood samples were obtained one day before the first and 48 h after the last training session.Results: After eight weeks, a significant reduction in the hs-CRP levels only was found in the exercise plus NS (P=0.029), but not in the control, NS and exercise with placebo groups were found.Conclusion: It seems that the consumption of nettle supplement with regular aerobic exercise can reduce inflammation in diabetic patients.

Introduction: Appetite influences energy homeostasis. Nesfatin-1 and neuropeptideY are orexigenic and anorexigenic peptides that play an important role in obesity and energy balance. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of concurrent endurance (treadmill running) and resistance (weight lifting) exercises on serum levels of nesfatin-1, neuropeptide Y and cortisol in sedentary obese men.Materials and Methods: In a quasi-experimental study, 30 men aged between 48 to 60 years with BMI≥30 kg/m2, were randomly allocated to the concurrent training and control groups. The training program consists of 12 weeks of concurrent endurance and resistance training. Blood samples were withdrawn, before and 48 hours after the 12 weeks exercise for measurement of nesfatin-1, neuropeptide Y and cortisol were performed.Results: Findings revealed that after 12 weeks concurrent training, the levels of neuropeptide Y increased and cortisol decreased significantly (p<0.05), whereas significant changes weren’t observed in levels of nesfatin-1. Also, a significant reduction in anthropometric indices was observed in training group.Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that 12 weeks of concurrent training, despite the impact on neuropeptide Y and cortical, hasn’t any significant effects on nesfatin-1.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of six weeks of endurance training and ginseng supplement consumption on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived growth factor levels in unathletes female student.Materials and Methods: In this study, 32 unathlete female students of Gorgan University (Iran) with the mean age of 20±2 years were randomly divided into endurance, endurance and ginseng, ginseng and control groups. Endurance training consisted of six weeks training with three sessions per week and each session was 70 minutes. The program of intermittent running was with intensity of 60-80% maximum heart rate. Ginseng extract was orally consumed (5 mg/kg/day for six weeks).Results: No significant effects of six weeks of endurance training together with ginseng supplement were found on the levels of VEGF (P<0.05). However, there was a significant difference between the levels of PDGF before and after of training in endurance training (P=0.015), endurance training- ginseng (P=0.004) and ginseng (P=0.016) groups. Also, there was a significant differences in the levels of PDGF between study groups (P=0.000). The levels of PDGF in the endurance training group was significantly different with endurance training-Ginseng (P=0.000), and ginseng (P=0.002), but no difference was observed in the levels of PDGF between control and endurance training (P=0.271).Conclusion: It seems that endurance training may improve the process of angiogenesis. Furthermore, ginseng supplement may influence the levels angiogenic factors.

Introduction: The effect of exercise training on skeletal muscle angiogenesis in myocardial infarction rats is not yet clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise training on the gene expressions of angiogenesis factors in the soleus muscle following myocardial infarction (MI) in rats.Material and Methods: Four weeks after the MI surgical procedures, 30 Wistar male rats were divided to the following groups: sham, MI-control and MI-exercise. The rats were subjected to aerobic training with moderate intensity for 10 weeks. After the last exercise-training session, soleus capillary density and the expression of angiogenic gene factors were measured by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR, respectively.Results: Capillary density and capillary to fiber ratio (C/F) significantly decreased 14 weeks after MI. Exercise training significantly increased capillary density and C/F ratio in soleus muscle. Furthermore, HIF-1 and TGF-b gene expression respectively increased and decreased, but, VEGF, FGF-2 and angiostatin gene expression did not changed in soleus muscle after training.Conclusion: Results showed that MI significantly decreased soleus muscle capillary density. Furthermore, 10 weeks moderate endurance exercise ameliorate capillary density and C/F ratio, parallel to HIF-1 up regulation, TGF-b down regulation and unchanged VEGF, FGF-2 and angiostatin gene expression in soleus muscle after myocardial infarction.

Introduction: Plantarflexor muscles produce propulsive force in the second half of stance phase; deficient motor output from these muscles would lead to inadequate propulsion at push off phase of gait following stroke. It is important to develop strategies to improve plantarflexor output. This study examined the effects of walking on a treadmill at varying gradients and speeds on medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle activation in stroke survivors.Materials and Methods: Nineteen stroke survivors (13M/6F: average age 55.37±7.54 years; body mass index 29.10±4.52kg/m2) participated in the study. Participants walked on a standard treadmill at three different positive inclines (0o, 3o, and 6o) and speeds (self-selected, self-selected+20%, self-selected+40%). The electromyographic activity of MG recorded at push off phase of the gait.Results: A linear mixed model regression analysis was used to analysis. The paretic MG muscle activity increased at faster speeds irrespective of incline (p<0.05). In contrast, the MG muscle activity increased at higher incline in the non-paretic side (P<0.05), but not in the paretic side (P>0.05).Conclusion: It would appear that stroke survivors employ distinct muscle activation strategies on the paretic and non-paretic sides in response to different walking speeds and inclines.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate between sway parameters of center of pressure in static and dynamic balance indices with eyes closed after four weeks static warm up in skilled gymnast athletes.Material and Methods: In this study, 16 skilled female gymnasts (with mean age 9.62±1.45 years) were randomly categorized into two groups: general warm-up (control), general warm-up and static stretching. The first protocol included a 10 minute jogging, and the other group was tested for static stretch (SS) during 4 weeks and three times a week. Before and after four weeks the activity, the indicators of the equilibrium of anterior-posterior and internal-external pressure fluctuations range, and track length of the anterior-posterior and internal-external pressure center in four static and dynamic situations (both with one leg, and with two legs) were investigated using a dynamometer system equipped with 7 cameras and Kistler force plate.Results: The results showed a significant increase in static balance with both feet and a feet by removing visual input in a state of equilibrium with static warm-up protocol after four weeks (P=0.001), But dynamic balance on two legs and one foot with static warm-up protocol was significantly decreased after four weeks (P=0.001, P=0.005, respectively).Conclusion: The results may indicate that long duration static stretch exercises can improve static balance with both feet and a foot in gymnast athletes, but long duration static stretch exercises may disturb the function of the dynamic balance and so may cause sport injuries in athletics.

Introduction: Balance control impairment and weight bearing asymmetry (WBA) are the most common complications in stroke patients. Interactions between sensory-motor and cognitive systems are necessary for balance control. Cognitive task can affect the balance control and weight bearing asymmetry in these patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cognitive task and its difficulty on balance control and weight bearing asymmetry in chronic stroke patients.Materials and Methods: Twenty-two patients with chronic stroke (30.7±42.2 month post-stroke) and 23 healthy individuals participated in the study. All the patients could stand independently and had weight bearing asymmetry towards the nonparetic leg. We used two force plates to collect balance related data including Area, Amplitude, velocity of cop displacement in ML and AP planes in standing position. In addition, simple and difficult stroop (color-word) tasks were used as cognitive tasks. All the participants underwent 5 test conditions including standing, sitting and simple cognitive, sitting and difficult cognitive, standing and simple cognitive, and standing and difficult cognitive tasks.Results: Interaction effect of group in cognitive task was not significant for any of COP parameters and WBA. Also no significant difference was seen between COP parameters and WBA for simple and difficult dual tasks. Main effects of group and cognitive task were significant for WBA, standard deviation of center of pressure sway amplitude and sway velocity (p<0.05), showing increasing pattern from patient to healthy group and from single to dual task.Conclusion: Results showed that stroop task is challenging enough that cognitive demand arising from it both in simple and difficult levels, by the same amount deteriorates upright balance and increases WBA in stroke patients.

Introduction: People with progressive neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) not only experience speech production deficiencies but also language disorders. Inability in repetition of long sentences is a language difficulty. Ability in repetition of long sentence is a clinical marker of language and cognitive impairment and it can help speech and language therapists to design and implement treatment plans. Therefore, this study carried out with the aim of comparing repetition skill of long sentences in Persian-speaking MS patients and healthy people.Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive- epidemiologic study in which repetition of long sentences was carried out on 20 MS patients from the MS Society of Khuzestan (Iran). The age range of the participants was between 21-54 years (mean age 39.55) and 20 healthy people (mean age 39.50). Data includinf long sentence repetition skill, the number of errors in functional word omission, and content word omission, and number of spoken words were obtained and analyzed.Results: Results showed that there was a significant different between MS patients and the control group in the mean of long sentence repetition skill (P=0.0001), the number of errors in functional word omission (P=0.004) the number of errors in content word omission (P=0.005) and number of spoken words (P=0.001).Conclusion: Results of this study showed that repetition of long sentence skill and some of the syntactic skills have impaired in MS patients. The results can help speech and language therapists in clinical assessment and interventional programs for MS patients.

Introduction: The Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score is a commonly used in the initial evaluation of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The GCS has some limitations to evaluate the unconscious patients. This study aims to reliability and predictive validity of outcome at discharge of GCS in an intensive care unit population.Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional method in 84 patients with acute brain injury in Shahid beheshti hospital in Qom (Iran). The inter-rater agreement for the GCS scores was evaluated by the weighted kappa. Outcome prediction power of the scales was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC) in the ROC curve.Results: In total, 168 ratings were performed for 84 patients by the GCS score. Inter-rater reliability for GCSC score was excellent. Cronbach’s showed a high degree of internal consistency for the GCS (a=0.82). The inter-rater agreement for each pair of raters was excellent (kw 0.838, 95% CI 0.889-0.987). The results show that scale is able to predict in-hospital mortality and poor outcome. The cut of point was 6.Conclusion: The researchers conclude that the reliability and predictive validity of Persian version of the GCS score is a valid scale. The present study shows that the Persian version of the GCS score is a reliable tool for the measurement of consciousness changes in TBI patients.

Introduction: The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of subchronic administration of different levels of Aloe Vera gel on some biochemical and immunological factors in the chicken model.Material and Methods: Two hundred and forty-one-day old Ross 308 (male and female) broilers were used on a completely randomized design in 5 groups with 4 replicates, and each replicate was consisting of 12 broilers. The groups included one control group (basal diet) and four experimental groups with basal diet mixed with different levels of Aloe Vera gel (1%, 2% and 3%) plus virginiamycin antibiotic.Results: No significant difference between experimental groups was observed in serum albumin level and ALP activity on days 14, 28 and 42. On the day 14, the variation of albumin and total protein levels were significant. In the days 28 and 42, the level of blood glucose in the group receiving 3% Aloe Vera and in the group receiving 1% Aloe Vera on the day 28 was decreased significantly. On the day 28, the count of lymphocytes was raised significantly in the group receiving 3% Aloe Vera. Also in this day, the most count of heterophils was found in the control and virginiamycin groups. On the day 42, the significant rise of lymphocyte count was observed in all groups receiving Aloe Vera gel. On the day 28, the level of antibody titers against sheep red blood cell was raised significantly.Conclusion: Daily supplementation with 1% Aloe Vera gel markedly potentiates cellular and humeral immunity in chickens and can be used as a food additive in order to prevent infections.

Introduction: Doogh is a traditional beverage and separation of serum during storage is a major problem in this product which happens due to low pH and aggregation of caseins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding carboxy methyl cellulose, Persian and locust bean gum individually and in combination on doogh stabilization during storage time.Materials and Methods: Doogh samples were prepared from the reconstruction of skim milk powder. Then, hydrocolloid solutions (0.15% locust bean, 0.6% carboxy methyl cellulose, 0.1% locust bean: 0.2% carboxy methyl cellulose and 0.1% locust bean: 0.1% Persian) were added to them and were kept in 5oC storage temperature for 28 days. The measurement of serum separation during storage time (28 days), particle size distribution and rheological tests were performed at baseline and the end of study. Finally, sensory attributes of treatments were determined with 30 panelists.Results: Adding carboxy methyl cellulose and locust bean gums individually resulted in increasing the stability of Doogh, but lower levels of locust bean showed a better impact on Doogh’s stability. However, the mixture of locust bean: carboxy methyl cellulose indicated the highest stability during storage and had the smallest particle size because of reduced accumulation of casein micelles. Adding hydrocolloids resulted in changing rheological behavior of Doogh from Newtonian to pseudoplastic. Moreover, the sensory panelists ascribed the highest score to the samples prepared by 0.1% locust bean: 0.2% carboxy methyl cellulose.Conclusion: Combination of absorbent (carboxy methyl cellulose or Persian gum) and non-absorbent (locust bean) hydrocolloids, through three mechanisms including, spatial inhibition, electrostatic repulsion and increasing viscosity of the continuous phase led to a significant increase in stability of non-fat Doogh. It is worth mentioning that combination of locust bean and Persian hydrocolloids were stable, but in respect of sensory evaluation, the aforementioned combination received a lower score than the mixture of locust bean and carboxy methyl cellulose.

Introduction: Previous studies indicated that Launaea acanthodes (LA) can be effective against epilepsy, nervous disorder, local and articular pain and convulsion disorders. The aim of this study was to assessment the antinoceceptive effects of LA on peripheral and visceral pain in mice by using hot plate (HP), tail flick (TF), formalin (FT) and writhing (WR) tests.Materials and Methods: In this study 160 young adult male albino mice (25-30 g) were used (n=8 in each group). Aqueous extract of LA gum (50, 100, and 200 mg/Kg IP) and saline (SAL) were injected 30 min before the pain evaluation tests. Acute and chronic pain was assessed by HP, TF and FT models and visceral pain was assessed by writhing test.Results: Results indicated that LA has analgesic effects (P<0.05) in comparison with the control and saline groups and higher dose of LA was more effective (P<0.001).Conclusion: The above findings showed that LA have modulatory effects on acute, chronic and visceral pain.

Introduction: Patients in end stage renal disease are at risk of numerous complications. To support patients in order to achieve adjustment, several models including the Roy adaptation model (RAM) have been suggested. The aim of this study was to determine adjustment in hemodialysis patients based on the RAM.Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in 2015 with conventional content analysis approach. Sampling was purposeful with maximum variation, 16 participants of hemodialysis patients referred to Imam Khomeini (RA) Garmsar and Semnan Kosar hospitals (Iran) participated in the study. Data were collected with structured interviews using demographic and RAM questionnaires. Data analysis was concurrent with data collection using conventional content analysis based on the five-step Granheim and Lundman (2004). Rigor of the study was conducted using measures of Lincoln and Guba.Results: Four main themes "facing physical challenges", "self-perception weakened," "inability to role function" and "passive dependence" was emerged from data analysis.Conclusion: The results obtained from this study explored adjustment responses in patients undergoing hemodialysis on the basis of the RAM. Findings of this study is valuable for patients, all those who are involved in the care of hemodialysis patients.

Introduction: Hematopoetic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is one of the treatment approaches for malignant and non-malignant hematologic diseases. The most important disadvantage of UCB in HSCT is low number of cells that can be collected. So, different systems for ex vivo expansion of HSCs were designed to overcome this limitation. The goal of this study was to examine different conditions of ex vivo expansion of HSCs.Materials and Methods: In this study, HSCs were cultured in four conditions: 1- In two-dimensional culture (2D), 2- Co-culture with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in 2-D (2D-Co), 3- In three-dimensional culture (constructed with poly eter sulfon nanofibers) (3D), and 4- Co - culture with MSCs in 3-D (3D-Co).Results: The comparison of these groups showed that 3D-Co group had more expansion levels and expression of CD34 marker than other groups. Moreover, the clonogenic capacity in this group was increased in comparison to other groups.Conclusion: The results of our study showed that the possibility usage of this system for expansion with lowest levels of differentiation in CD34+ HSCs. Further studies are needed to evaluate expanded cells with this system to use in clinical practice.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is the most important infectious disease and is one of the most common causes of death in the world especially in developing countries. TB is caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Designing and construction new vaccines against Mycobacterium tuberculosis are the only effective way to prevent and control the disease. The aim of this study was to design and construct a cloning vector encoding hspX and tb10.4 fusion genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Materials and Methods: At first, tb10.4 fragment was amplified by PCR method and it was digested with restriction enzymes and was cloned into the plasmid pcDNA3.1 +. Then, hspX fragment was amplified by PCR method and it was digested by HindIII and BamHI restriction enzymes. The recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1 + / tb10.4 also digested with the same enzymes and hspX was subcloned into the recombinant vector. This construct was transformed into the Escherichia coli strain TOP10. The confirming the clones were performed by colony PCR, restriction enzyme digestion and sequencing methods.Results: PCR and enzymatic digestion products were run on the agarose gel and tb10.4 and hspX genes were observed 291bp and 435bp, respectively. In addition, results of DNA sequencing showed 100% homology with hspX and tb10.4 genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain recorded in GenBank.Conclusion: In this study, hspX and tb10.4 genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were cloned into pcDNA3.1 + vector correctly. This vector can use as a DNA vaccine to induce immune system responses in animal models in future studies.

Introduction: Knowledge is a necessary component for behavioral changes, including behaviors related to oral health and oral disease prevention. Families have the most important role in children's teeth and mouth hygiene. This study aimed to determine parental knowledge, attitudes and practices in preschool children on importance of primary teeth and some related factors among subjects referred to the dental clinic in Semnan University of Medical Sciences (SUMS).Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study on 267 parents of preschool children reffering to the dental clinic of SUMS. Data was gathered by means of a questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire was composed of 22 parts including 21 multiple-choice questions and one open-ended question. Descriptive statistics containing frequency tables, mean, standard deviation, multiple and simple logistic regression tests was used.Results: About 51.1% of parents had low level knowledge and 48.9% had good knowledge and 60 percent of parents had a good practice. There was a significant relation between Lower economic status, attitudes and lower practice of parents (p<0.05).Conclusion: Educating parents regarding the importance of caring for primary teeth should be in line with the individual needs of children and parents to succeed in the prevention programs of oral diseases in children.

Introduction: Coronary angiography is an invasive procedure for diagnosis of coronary artery diseases, which can be a source of anxiety for patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the situational anxiety and heart focused anxiety in patients undergoing coronary angiography.Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was done on 92 patients before angiography in Kowsar hospital of Semnan. Data was gathered with demographic questionnaire, measurement of physiologic parameters, cardiac anxiety questionnaire (CAQ), and Spielberg state anxiety questionnaire.Results: All subjects (44 men and 48 women) with a mean age 55±8 years completed the study. The majority of cases (59.8%) had moderate situational anxiety and score of 30 or higher from total of 62 score of CAQ. Majority of score was in avoidance, fear and attention domains.Conclusion: High prevalence of moderate anxiety in these patients and it's impact on treatment and recovery course, necessitate special attention to this issue and establishment of strategies for reducing patients anxiety.

Introduction: Eschereshia coli (E.coli) as one of the major cause of infections in hospital settings can be classified into phylogenetic groups which are different in virulence, growth rates and antibiotic susceptibility patterns. In this study, we aimed to perform phylogenetic analysis in E.coli strains to understand association between phylogroups and antibiotic susceptibility patterns.Materials and Methods: Two hundred and sixty E. coli isolates recovered from hospitalized patients at Kosar teaching hospital in Semnan city, Iran were subjected to phylogenetic typing by a quadruplex PCR method. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was also performed by disk agar diffusion method.Results: Phylogroup B2 was the most predominant phylogroup (38.4%) followed by A (14.8%), F (13.4%), D (9.3%), B1 (8.8%), C and E (4.6%), unknown (4.2%), and clade I (1.9%). We found 70.4% of our isolates were multiple drug resistant (MDR). The most and the least efficient antibiotics were meropenem and trimethoprime/sulfamethoxazole with 94.4% and 27.8% of susceptibility rates, respectively.Conclusion: Our results represent the high prevalence of MDR E. coli isolates with dominance of phylogroup B2. Phylogroup B2 not only could be considered as a virulent phylogroup but also as a genetic antibiotic resistance reservoir.

Introduction: Ischemic heart disease is the main cause of death in most societies. The disease has no cure and diseases management is necessary throughout the life of the patient. Medical adherence for preventing further progression of the disease and stroke is very important. The purpose of this study is to review the effect of self-management program and telephone follow up on medical adherence in patients with ischemic heart disease.Materials and Methods: The study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) which contains 60 patients with ischemic heart disease who are eligible for inclusion criteria. They divided randomaly into two equal control and experimental groups. All samples were examined with demographic and medical adherence questionnaire at first. The intervention group participated in the workshop of self management program during the first week after discharging. Then, it was followed up by phone for 8 weeks. Finally 3 and 6 months weeks after the last call, the questionnaire of medical adherence were fulfilled again by all samples and the results of the two different periods were compared.Results: The results showed that there is no meaningful statistical difference due to demographic characteristic and medical adherence between two groups of examination before interference. But medical adherence of the intervention group after instruction of self management program and telephone follow up increased in a meaningful way compared to pre-intervention on 3 and 6 month periods (p<0.001), while changes in medical adherence in the control group was not statistically significant.Conclusion: Due to improvement of the medical adherence in the intervention group, instruction of self management programs and telephone follow up is recommend in patients with ischemic heart disease.

Introduction: Spasticity is a common motor disorder in multiple sclerosis (MS). The modified Tardieu scale (MTS) is one of the most widely used test for assessing muscle spasticity. The aim of this study was to investigate the inter rater reliability of MTS in measuring of Knee Extensor muscle spasticity in MS patients.Materials and Methods: Knee extensors of 20 MS patients with mean age of 41.50 (SD=11.95) were assessed by two inexperienced physiotherapists. The order of assessments by the two raters was randomized. The inter rater reliability of MTS was determined by ICC two-way random effects model.Results: Inter-rater reliability for quality of muscle reaction and R2-R1 as dynamic component of spasticity in knee extensors muscle was high and moderately high respectively (ICC=0.89, 0.77).Conclusion: The results indicated MTS can be used as a reliable measurement for assessing knee extensors spasticity.

Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of blood malignancies that is associated with excessive proliferation of B cells. The disease is more common in men over 50 years. CLL is associated with defective apoptosis in B cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of survivin protein as an inhibitor of apoptosis protein in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from CLL patients and normal subjects under the effect of berberine in vitro.Materials and Methods: In this study, 12 patients with CLL and six healthy age matched individuals as a control group were investigated. Peripheral blood was collected and, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were separated by ficoll separation. The PBMC were cultured with Berberine drug at 25μM concentration for 48h. Finally survivin mRNA expression was investigated following cDNA synthesis by Real time PCR using SYBR Green method.Results: The expression level of survivin mRNA in CLL patients (treated with drug) compared with patients without treatment (control group) decreased significantly (p<0.05), but survivin mRNA level showed no significant differences in healthy donors both in treated and untreated group (p>0.05(.Conclusion: It seems that the drug Berberine through down-regulation of survivin gene expression induces apoptosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells while the drug has had no appreciable effect on normal cells. The results provide proof of principals for further investigation of Berberin in clinical setting for treatment of CLL.

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types of cancer affecting 1.23 million individuals per year in the world. Recently, it is suggested that inflammation and oxidative stress play an importmat role in colorectal carcinogenesis. The aim of this syudy was to examine the effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on oxidation markers and antioxidant defenses level in a rat model of colorectal cancer.Materials and Methods: Sixteen male Wistar rats, weighing 250-300 g were divided into two groups: control and experimental. Both groups were injected subcutaneously, with 1, 2- Dimethyl Hydrazine at a dose of 15 mg/kg of body weight, twice per week for 6 weeks. The control group and experimental groups were gavaged with water (2 ml/kg) and CLA (200 mg/kg), respectively, for the first 4 weeks of study. After 6 weeks, the rats were killed and their blood and colorectal tissues were collected. The serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutation peroxidase (GPx), paraxonase (PON) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) and also malondialdehyde (MAD) level in the colorectal tissue were measured.Results: Findings indicated that MAD and MPO levels significantly decreased in the experimental group in comparison than the control group (P<0.001). SOD, GPx and PON significantly increased in the experimental group than the control group (P<0.001).Conclusion: our findings suggest that CLA is a powerful substance which decreases oxidation markers, and increases antioxidant defenses in colorectal cancer.

Introduction: When it is desired to examine occurrence of two events simultaneously, it is common to use bivariate statistical models such as bivariate logistic regression. Due to the limitations of classical methods in real situations, other methods such as artificial neural networks (ANN) are concerned. The aim of this study was comparing the predictive accuracy of bivariate logistic regression and artificial neural network models in diagnosis of death occurrence and heart block in myocardial infarction patients.Material and Methods: In this study, data was taken from a census in a cross-sectional study in which 263 patients with myocardial infarction cases who admitted to Hajar hospital heart care in 2013 to 2014. Gender, type of stroke, history of diabetes, previous history of hypertension, lipid disorders, history of heart disease, cardiac output fraction, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting and non-fasting blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density cholesterol, smoking, type of treatment, the troponin enzymes and insurant type were considered as explanatory variables and occurrence of death and heart block were used as dependent variables. Bivariate logistic regression and neural network model was fitted. Both models were predicted and the accuracy of them were compared. Models were fitted by MATLAB2013a and Zelig in R3.2.2.Results: Predictive accuracy of bivariate logistic regression model was 77.7% for the training and 78.48% for the test data. In ANN model, LM and OSS algorithms had best performance with 83.69% and 83.15% predictive accuracy for training data and 84.81% and 83.54% for testing data, respectively.Conclusion: This research showed that the neural network method is more accurate than bivariate logistic regression to joint predicting the occurrence of death and heart block in patients with myocardial infarction.

Internal hernias account for approximately 5 percent of cases of small bowel obstruction (SBO) with more than 50% mortality rate. Transomental hernia is very rare, accounting to 1-4% of all internal hernias. So it is a very unusual cause of SBO. We reported a 69 year-old man who presented with SBO signs and symptoms. Early diagnosis and exploration revealed a segment of congested small bowel loop herniated through a defect over the greater omentum. This case is presented for its rarity and its importance in causes of SBO, especially in patients without history of abdominal surgery or trauma.